TV Networks Resume White House Pool Coverage—With a Caveat
Trump previously told reporters that there weren’t any specific stories that spurred him to bar CNN, POLITICO, and MS NOW from the White House, but that “it’s really just cumulative stories over the last few years, you get sick of it,” adding that “they purposely write negative news.”
Carroll pushes back on Trump’s complaint.
“The press’s key role under the Constitution is to act as a watchdog,” she says. “In acting as an independent watchdog, it may be that those stories or things that journalists print feel ‘negative’ or ‘critical.’ That is the press’s constitutional role, and so that is what the press is doing in these situations. For Trump to complain that stories are overly negative is unfair because, in one sense, that’s the press’s job—they’re there to check the three branches of government.”
Where do Trump’s efforts to ban CNN, POLITICO, and MS NOW stand?
On Sept. 18, Trump announced that he was banning CNN, POLITICO, and MS NOW from the White House grounds. The following day, journalists from those three organizations were not allowed into the White House and officials revoked their press credentials.
